It looked as if it would be no contest from the start as Michigan jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead in the first four minutes. But Cleveland State scored seven of the next nine points to pull within three.

Trey Burke hit a three and CSU answered with a bucket from Anton Grady. Stauskas and Burke both made layups and Glenn Robinson III converted a dunk before CSU’s Tim Kamczyc hit a three. Michigan led 19-12 with 11:45 left in the half, and Cleveland State would only score one more basket the rest of the half. Over the next 11 minutes, Michigan went on a 23-2 run to take a 42-14 halftime lead.

The second half was much more competitive as Cleveland State threw out some defensive looks that John Beilein hadn’t prepared for and Michigan’s offense was slowed somewhat. Even so, Michigan outscored the Vikings in the second half to win by 30.

Stauskas scored 11 points in a five minute span at the beginning of the second half en route to his best game of his young career. CSU even went to a box-and-one defense on him to slow him down. That’s a pretty good mark to make in the third game of your career.

Hardaway hit 7-of-12 shots and 3-of-6 from three-point range in leading the team in scoring for the second time in three games. Burke was a bit quieter with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting and hit just 1-of-4 three-point attempts, but he dished out seven assists.

As a team, Michigan shot just over 50 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from three – both lower than the first two games. But make no mistake about it: Michigan seized control of the game early and didn’t let up.

Through three games, Michigan is averaging 89.3 points per game, giving up just 54.3, and shooting 56.1 percent from the field and 53.1 percent from downtown. Granted, the schedule will only get tougher, but Michigan has done exactly what it was supposed to do: win big. Last season, Michigan was playing much closer – and lower scoring – games against teams of this caliber, beating Ferris State 59-33, Towson 64-47, and Western Illinois 59-55 in the first three games. The opening three games this season are the first time in program history that Michigan has opened the season with three straight wins of 30 points or more.

Michigan has a week off before retuning to action next Wednesday against Pittsburgh in the semifinals in New York City. The Panthers beat Fordham 86-51 on Monday and Lehigh 78-53 tonight.

After another dominant performance in last night’s NIT Preseason opener over IUPUI, Michigan will face a Cleveland State team tonight (8pm on ESPN2) that has made a name for itself as a mid-major that no one wants to play in the non-conference season. The Vikings lost four starters and looked pretty shaky in an overtime win over Bowling Green, but they will certainly play their hearts out as they face the No. 5 team in the country. Here are a few things to mull as the game approaches:

Glenn Robinson III has made 81.2 percent of his attempts so far (photo by Carlos Osorio, AP)

Turnovers: Everyone knows by now that John Beilein stresses an approach that maximizes possessions by limiting turnovers, thus giving his team more chances to put points on the board. In last night’s blowout of the Jaguars, Michigan again seemed a little bit anxious and turned the ball over 13 times while putting up only 55 shots. Beilein will generally tell people that a single-digit turnover number is acceptable, but anything over 10 is dangerous when playing a quality opponent. Not only should Cleveland State be a decent opponent tonight, though – they also pride themselves on wreaking havoc on the opposing offense by pressuring the ball and using active hands in passing lands to create turnovers and limit the other team’s opportunities. In two games so far, the Vikings have forced 31 turnovers, a tremendous number, and while those opponents were Grambling State and Bowling Green, Michigan has yet to prove that they will value the rock like a top-five team. Trey Burke has already turned the ball over eight times in two games and backup Spike Albrecht looked hesitant at times in last night’s game when he faced three-quarter court pressure. Burke’s problems have come more in forcing passes and moving too fast than in his ball-handling, so I don’t expect major problems with him in the turnover department tonight, but Albrecht lacks the quickness and the first speed that Burke can use at will to get by his defender. Trey may see himself playing 35-plus minutes tonight if Beilein senses problems early.

Taking Advantage of Aggressiveness: We now know that Cleveland State will do all it can to limit Michigan’s shot attempts by pressuring the ball, but how can the Wolverines take advantage of that? The answer is easy – play smart, fundamental basketball. A team that pressures the ball will frequently give up open passing lanes and driving lanes to the hoop by being too aggressive, and when Burke is able to get into an open lane, there is not a team in the country that will be able to stop one of his drives or a kick-outs to the plethora of good shooters this Michigan team looks to have. In last night’s narrow win over the Falcons, Cleveland State gave up alley-oops on three straight possessions late in the game, partially because of their aggressiveness. And while A’uston Calhoun looked very good for Bowling Green, he certainly does not have the hops of a Glenn Robinson III or Tim Hardaway, Jr., who have both sent home some powerful dunks already in this young season. Burke should come close to tying his career-high nine assists for a second straight night and Nik Stauskas, Matt Vogrich, and the rest of the shooters should see plenty of open shots on the wings.

Cleveland State forced a lot of turnovers, so Burke will need to stay under control (photo by Carlos Osorio, AP)

Balance: One more thing Michigan and Beilein will have to prepare for tonight is defending a balanced attack. It’s pretty easy to game plan against teams that have one or two star players taking the majority of shots on offense, but it’s very difficult to stop a team that can look to five or six different players to make shots. All five of Cleveland State’s starters have been in double digits in their first two games of the season, both wins, and freshman Bryn Forbes (Lansing Sexton) came off the bench in the first game to score 14 points. Seventh-year head coach Gary Waters will again look for his whole team to contribute tonight in an effort to take down the Wolverines, and though Michigan has the strength and depth to have a balanced offense as well, Beilein will focus on the defensive end of the court in stopping Cleveland State. Forward Tim Kamczyc has been hot so far from downtown, shooting a combined 7-of-12 from downtown in two games, but he appeared a little streaky last night. The rest of the team won’t take a ton of deep looks, so Michigan’s interior defense will be critical to their success.

Prediction: Matt Vogrich will be the team’s leading three-point shooter tonight and Michigan will again run away in the first half from an inexperienced and overwhelmed Viking team on their way to Madison Square Garden. Cleveland State should hang tough for a half or so, but the Wolverines’ firepower will prove to be too much in the end. Hardaway, Jr. will lead the team in scoring as Michigan rolls, 86-61.

The game was fairly back and forth throughout as Kamczyc hit a three to send the game into overtime. Another Kamczyc three gave CSU the lead in overtime and the Vikings never looked back, converting their free throws down the stretch.

The win advanced Cleveland State to 2-0. Their first win was a 92-49 thumping of Grambling on Friday.

Cleveland State was predicted to finish fifth in the Horizon League this year after going 22-11 last season. The year ended with a NIT opening round loss to Stanford. The Vikings return just one starter, Kamczyc, from that team. The four that departed – Trey Harmon, Jeremy Montgomery, D’Aundray Brown, and Aaron Pogue – combined to average 40 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 8.1 assits per game last season.

Kamczyc averaged 9.1 points and 3.9 rebounds. He’s the lone senior on a roster that currently has a combined nine freshmen and sophomores. Last year’s sixth man, Anton Grady, was named to the preseason Second Team All-Horizon team. He averaged 8.5 points per game last season, but was even better (10.5) in conference play. He scored 10 on Monday night and 14 in the opener.

CSU is shooting 47.3 percent from the field and 47.2 from three-point range, while Michigan has been lights out so far this season (58.7 and 62.5 percent, respectively). One stat that stands out is CSU’s ability to get steals. The Vikings have forced 32 turnovers resulting in 21 steals so far.

Both teams will be fighting for a trip to New York to participate in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off. The winner will likely face Pittsburgh next Wednesday, while the loser will play a consolation game.